Missing Rangemen
by iwnt2skimoore
Summary: What if Rangeman left without a trace and Stephanie was caught in the middle. Can our heroine save them all in time? Babe HEA. No cupcakes hurt. OC
1. Chapter 1

Why was there light on my face? I opened my eyes and squinted, this did not look like my bedroom. This looked like Ranger's office. Oh shit. I sat up with a start, and the room started to spin. My heart was pounding and my head throbbing. I was sprawled out on the floor, my high heels a few feet away. I army crawled to them and stood up slowly, and took in the sight before me.

The room was in shambles. The desk was tipped over, its contents everywhere. There was three good sized holes in the gray wall, plaster dust littering the floor. The blinds ripped off the bar, the window looked smeared and dirty. Books ripped in half and strewn around the room. Ranger's big black leather couch had tears in it. My brain was in panic mode when I saw a big knife sticking out of a cushion.

I've seen that knife.

Strapped to his thigh, he touched it whenever he was uneasy about a situation.

Ranger's knife.

I dropped the shoes and ran to it, yanking it out of the couch and gripping it tight. I then searched for my phone. Shit this is freaking me out. I gave my search and stared at the door. It's the same dark wood it's always been. If I turn the knob I'll see all the cubicles on five. The monitors with some merry men sipping coffee and carrying files.

Won't I?

The door seems so intimidating and terrifying. Tears streamed own my face. I didn't know, or understand why I was here, how this office got this way. I walked over to the window and stared at my reflection. My eyes were smudged in heavy black, my lips were a faded red. There was dried blood on my temple and a bruise forming on my cheek. My pretty blue evening dress was dirty and torn. I turned to face the door, to face my fear. Come on Steph, open the door. So I did. As soon as I turned the knob, I remembered pale blue-gray eyes and smelled cigarettes. But that's not what I saw on five. I saw cubicles and monitors office supplies, and coffee cups. Files and boxes, on the ground. But there was no single man. Nobody. Rangemen was empty. I gripped my knife and took off running. I screamed names.

"Ranger!" No answer. "Ranger!"

"Tank!"

"Bobby!"

"Lester!" I screamed until I was choking on sobs. I was sure that yelled every name at Rangemen. I ran through every room, every floor. Taking the stairs to the gym, the guy's apartments, finding everyone, empty but there as no signs that anyone went anywhere. I took the stairs, two at a time to six, running to Ella's. I yanked the door open. It was perfectly immaculate. Just like it always was. Normal. That's how everything looked. I took a deep breath and walked up to seven. I saw the same kind of dark door and felt the same gut-wrenching fear. I touched the wood and it swung open. I sucked in a breath. I stepped in. I sank to the ground and sobbed. I cried and sniveled and cussed my heart out. No. It can't be like this. I got up and walked through his apartment. It looked like it had the last time I was here. Normal, when I reached his bedroom, I flopped onto his unmade bed, reveling in his scent. Wondering if it was the last time I would ever smell it. I closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, and realized where I was, there was a moment of pure joy. Then I remembered the situation at hand. Rangemen was empty, not a soul here. I got up and went into Ranger's kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. I saw all the normal foods and condiments that are in a typical fridge. Well, normal for Ranger. I went over what I knew. Rangemen was empty and apparently shut down, but it looked normal. Like it was unexpected. The only place that wasn't normal was Ranger's office. And for some reason I kept thinking about my vision almost. Pale blue-gray eyes and cigarette smoke. Were they responsible? Can they help me? I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears. Who could help me? I opened my eyes and took off running, I grabbed a set of keys from the side table by the door and went down the steps and ran to the garage. I clicked unlock on the fob and saw the 911 turbo beep. I ran through all the company SUV's and ripped the door open. I broke all traffic laws on my way to the police station, surprisingly I didn't get picked up. I pulled up to the front and slammed on the brakes. I took off to a run, and opened the door to see Eddie and Joe talking to each other laughing.

I guess I never really was meant to be with Joe. We stared to drift apart and there was no emotion behind the kisses. The sex became meaningless and boring. One day I just didn't go over, then he was away on assignment. Things just kept coming up, and neither of us spared time for each other. One day I saw him at the grocery store in the pasta isle. We locked eyes and finally thought of each other for the first time in weeks. I remember we were both crying by the sauces, over what we lost. We went to Pino's and talked for three hours about everything and nothing. Then Joe sobered.

"Steph, I'm sorry but we were so lost." I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He looked at me and smiled a slow sad smile.

"Joe, I know. We lost each other. That can't happen again. I won't be able to bear it. I need hockey games and pizza with beer." He nodded and I saw a tear come out of his eye.

"Step-" I cut him off.

"And I need you to call me cupcake." I smiled and he chuckled.

"Ok, cupcake. Twist my arm." I punched his arm. "Cupcake, it's not in the stars for us. I mean we were good for a while. Really good. But the spark faded. But now I realize that I still need you I my life, as my friend." I nodded and we toasted our beers to that. We said goodnight with a promise to stay in touch.

And we did. We went to lunch and watched hockey with beer. We even walked Bob sometimes. This was better for us. I even brought him to Sunday dinner to my parents to help me get my mom off my back about us. He and I got into a real comfortable friendship. He was my best friend again.

But now I ran to him in a panic.

"Joe!" I grabbed his arm and whipped him around to face me.

"Jesus cupcake. What the hell happened to you?" Carl ran up to us.

"Hey Joe, there was a reckless driver on route two. She was pushing 90 in a 911 turbo." Carl, Joe, and Eddie's eyes snapped to me. Joe Junaik came in from outside before I could answer.

"Where the hell is Ranger and why is he parking like an ass?!" Uh oh Uncle Joe was not happy. I smiled and raised my hand meekly. Then I was bombarded with another vision thingy. I saw feathers and heard a woman's voice. Run. She told me to run with panic in her voice. Then I went down.

I opened my eyes to see Joe, Carl, Eddie and Junaik all looking down at once. I sat up quickly and knocked heads with Carl.

"Oww!" I got up with minimal grousing. Joe gave me a bottled water and smiled kindly.

"Rangemen is empty." Eyes widened, breath was sucked in.

"Steph honey, let's move this to an interrogation room." Junaik took my arm and gently guided me to a recently painted room. It was a nice pale purple with nice chairs. Which was odd for the low budget station. The four men already had their cop faces on and assembled themselves in each corner. I sat on a chair in the middle of the room.

"Stephanie, do we need to record this?" Eddie's face was compassionate. I sat up with a shot. I went from zero to Rhino mode in two seconds.

"This isn't a confession Eddie Gazzara!" I grabbed his ear and yanked him down to my level like I used to do when we were kids. "I should tell your mother on you!" Even though it was immature, it's how the Burg worked.

"Uncle! Uncle! Jeez I thought you wouldn't want to repeat the story!" I released his ear and looked at the ground.

"Oh. Sorry." I smiled and Eddie guided me back to the chair. He gestured to the recorder and I nodded.

"Ok Stephanie, Tell us about Rangemen."

So I did. I told them about how I woke up, how the office was in shambles. How five was empty and the computers, monitors and phones were all off. How everything was normal as it could be without the Merry men. Several times I started to cry, and there always was a familiar shoulder to lean on. The cops were holding all questions to the end.

"Did you wake up with a hangover?" Carl looked mildly ashamed but persisted.

"Not exactly, but there was something making me drowsy. Can I get blood taken?" Joe nodded and stepped out. We all waited, and he returned with Robin Russell and she had gloves and a syringe. She made quick work and left.

"And the damage to your face?" Junaik's face was not a happy one.

"There when I woke up."

"You don't remember anything from the night before." Eddie made this a statement.

"Yes, well. I get these flashback things. I know they are from that night."

"What are they?" Carl looked pretty excited. Hold your horses son. I blew out a breath.

"They are really weird and not exactly helpful. The last one made me black out. I saw these pale blue-grey eyes and I smelled cigarette smoke. And the second one was like white feathers, from like a boa, and a frantic woman's voice telling me to run." I stopped and looked around. They all looked confused, join the party.

"Well that's very interesting, but you're right. It can't exactly help us." Uncle Joe shrugged.

"Call me if you remember anything else." Morelli hugged me and gave me a shit ton of paperwork.

Bastard.

It took me an hour to fill out the paperwork and Robin took pictures of my dress and face. I left with the plan the Morelli would accompany me to Rangemen tomorrow afternoon. I went home and saw everything was trashed. All my belongings thrown about and plates and glassed shattered. My clothes were everywhere. I dialed Joe, as I ran to Rex. I sighed with relief when I saw he was in his soup can. Joe picked up right after that.

"Morelli."

"Joe, I'm home and my place is trashed."

"Shit Steph. I'm coming over, pack a bag. You are staying with me until this starts to make sense. Hold on for a bit."

"Ok." And I screamed. I heard the phone drop. I heard Morelli's voice drift to me telling me that he was coming with backup. I yelped and picked up the phone.

"Steph hold on baby, we're coming!"

"No Joe! Just you. I'm fine I just saw that I have a friend."

I helped the big guy off the floor, and got him an ice pack and a bottle of water. He was cuffed to my old radiator and had a goose egg on his head. He grunted when I held the icepack to it. I wasn't especially close to him, so it made me wonder why he was in my apartment.

"Morelli is on his way. I don't have a cuff key so you'll have to wait."

"Its fine little girl. Thank you, I was nervous that nobody would find me. I don't know how I got here."

"It's ok Tank." Then I heard Morelli pounding on the door. I got up and opened it. Morelli crushed me to him. "Do you have a cuff key?"

"Yeah here." He handed it to me and followed me through the mess to Tank. I uncuffed him and he too hugged me. Morelli clapped Tank on the back.

"Well, it looks like you are the one remaining Rangeman."

"What." Tank slammed on his blank face. Morelli sighed and looked at me.

"Do you want to tell him, or shall I?"

"Talk." Tank barked this as an order. Again I went from zero to rhino.

"I am not your employee. Neither is Joe. So if you want to know what we know you are going to have to ask nicely and use the p-word." I further pushed the limit by jabbing Tank in the chest with my finger on each word. There was a heavy silence as a held my breath to see what country I would be sent to. Tank's face split into a huge smile showing extremely white teeth.

"Well sheeeeiiiit, Lil girl you got it in you." He laughed. Morelli was smiling too, and then looked at me.

"Cupcake, are you gonna stay with me?" I saw Tank sober and look at us through the corner of his eye while he pretended to be fascinated with the cuff key. How he does surveillance, I'll never know.

"No, I'll stick with Tank." I looked at Tank nervously. "That is ok right?" Tank smiled with teeth again.

"Yeah bomber." Morelli nodded.

"I'll need your statement tomorrow, call me whenever."

"Bye Joe. Thanks again" Joe nodded.

"Ok Steph. What the hell is going on?" Tank moved some glass of the sofa and sat down, I followed suit.

After giving Tank a recap of the situation, he told me that he woke up with the similar feeling I described and saw the apartment trashed. He woke up a 0400 and that was three hours before I did. It was eight now so I felt bad for him but he said it wasn't so bad. He helped me pack a bag and we headed to Rangeman. He did a sweep through the building and saw the same thing I did. When he saw Ranger's office he blew out a breath. He stared at the couch.

"Bomber what made these cuts in the leather?"

"Ranger's knife. I found it sticking out and I was scared so I took it with me." Tank nodded.

"Good you had a weapon. Where is it?" I drew a blank for a few minutes then I remembered.

"Oh on seven on the kitchen counter." We took the stairs. The door was open.

It was wrecked and the knife was gone. Tank pushed me behind him.

"Little girl didn't you say it was normal and not trashed? Fear was clawing at my insides.

"Y-yeah i-it wasn't like this." Tank did a sweep of the room and we hotfooted it down to five. Tears were freely falling down my face. Tank surprised me by sweeping me up and carrying me to his big pickup truck. It was huge and without his help there was no way I would be able to get in it. Tank drove for a while and stopped at a little blue row house in Hamilton Township. It was a midsized home that didn't look too masculine. The décor was nice, big chairs and couches all done in earth tones. I met all three of Tank's cats. He was almost shy to show me them. I thought back to him and Lula. They almost completed each other. Lula was loud and bright while Tank was calm and quiet. I wonder what would happen if they got together again. I yawned. I was stretched out on Tank's large couch and was feeling sleep deprived. Tank came back in and locked the front door and entered his security code.

"Tank, why are you doing that? Nobody's watching the monitors." He sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"I can't give up Steph. They are somewhere. It's too important." He came over and handed me a beer.

"Who could do this Tank? Rangeman is a Fortress and full of very capable men. And I doubt they all left on their own volition." Tank sighed and chugged his beer.

"Well little girl, there are some things you don't know. Recently the core team stopped taking in government contracts." I must have looked confused because Tank clarified. "Missions. Me and Ranger alone have done 26. My working theory is that they thought we knew too much and decided to get rid of the risk. It happened before to a friend. She was a good girl. Jumped through hoops for these suits. And when they thought that their teacher's pet was too smart, they threw her into a war zone and gave her no hope of escaping. But they didn't count on her having friends like Ranger. We went in with everything we had to find her. She was kept as a sex slave to a drug cartel. They kept her in chains in a locked room, every man that went in there, never came back. If she didn't find some way to kill them, she maimed them or scared the shit out of them. So eventually they threw dead bodies in that room." I gasped it was all horrifying, but it did distract me. Like a ghost story.

"We got her out though, she wasn't the same. She was mentally ill. At the airstrip there was a government plane taking her in custody, we couldn't stop them. The suits threw her in a nut house to keep her quiet, she was smart and strong though. She managed to bide her time until she could call us." Tank got up and gave her a blanket from a chest.

"Here little girl." He handed it to me while I was sputtering.

"What happened to her?!" He chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't want to scare you, I think I already did." Now I was shaking my head.

"No, it's a good story." He sighed and sat back down. He's been doing a lot that lately.

"Well, she called Lester." I wrinkled my nose.

"Why did she call him_?" I had nothing against Lester but he was a total trick, I bet he tried to hang up on her thinking it was a one night stand gone wrong._ Tank started laughing really hard and punched me in the arm. It kind of hurt.

"Shit little girl that's dead on." I reddened. I had to work on blurting things out.

"Sorry." He punched my arm again. Ouch this shit is starting to hurt, but I sucked it up.

"Well she was the only real relationship our playboy ever had. He was going to propose when she stopped missions." I immediately felt bad. "We got her out only to find that she didn't exist. They deleted her."

"I didn't know that was possible. And who is they?" Tank looked a bit uncomfortable. I poked him it the bicep. Damn that's hard.

"Well I think our little problem came from a suit named Tanner. He's got the man power and he might have a grudge. He was the one that sent us on missions." I stood up

"Then we march down to this Tanner guy's office and demand the love of my life back!" I clapped a hand over my mouth. Oh shit did I just say that? By the look on Tank's face I did. I sank down to the couch and hung my head in my hands. "It really is that close to the surface. It bubbles out at any time now."

"Did you ever tell him?"

"No. I never thought he felt the same and I-" He cut me off.

"You two are the dumbest fucks I ever saw." I must have looked shocked because Tank's face was full of sass. "You run around each other never saying how you feel. You never have a backbone around him." Tank elbowed me. "You don't need to be saved Stephanie. You can be wonder woman if you want to."

My eyes were watering and I gave Tank a smile. "I want to."

Tank nodded and got up, he grabbed my chin. "He's not Batman anymore. He is just a sexually frustrated man." I'm sure I look horrified because tank started to laugh his ass of as he made his way to bed[HM1] .

* * *

[HM1]


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing you can recognize, it belongs to JE.

I woke up on Tank's couch with three blankets around me. Tank said he liked his house cold and he wasn't fucking around. Also all the cats found themselves curled around me. I groaned, this is just what I needed; a cold house with three cats. Looks like my mom was right. But then I smelled bacon and coffee so things were looking up. I stumbled into Tank's kitchen to find him wielding a frying pan.

"Good morning princess." He looked much to chipper for five in the fucking morning. I only glared in return. He smirked and poured me a cup of coffee. I downed the coffee and felt like I might be able to hold a conversation without using expletives as commas.

''I just wanted to let you in on my secret, I honestly can't stand heath foods. I love a good hearty meal." I was flabbergasted, with Tank being Ranger's Second in command I thought he was all for the super low-calorie protein smoothies.

"How does Ranger not know?"

"Oh I'm sure he does, but I never mentioned it to anyone before so he can't exactly burst into my house and tell me what to eat." And then there was a banging on the door. Both me and Tank looked scared shitless. He dropped his blank face as I took a piece of bacon and hid behind the counter. He went to the door and ripped it open. I was chewing and peaking around but I couldn't see anything behind tanks big head. I heard a voice I was scared I'd never hear again.

"Hey man we need to talk. Let me in, I'm starving and I smell bacon." Tank moved and Lester walked in. I rocketed up and threw my arms and legs around him.

"Lester!"

"Beautiful?" I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back then addressed Tank. "Why is she koala-ing?"

"She was scared you were going to take the bacon." I sent him my best burg glare.

"Well I'm gonna eat some chica."

Lester spent the rest of the morning telling us about what happened to him. He woke up in an abandoned warehouse on Stark. He was handcuffed to a chair with nobody else there. Once he got out of the cuffs He went straight to the office, only to find it empty with Ranger's office and apartment trashed. He called everybody but all the phones went straight to voicemail. He was with Tank's suspicion on Tanner. They left to go give statements and then go give statements. I was left with strict instructions to go out and see what the burg knew on this because I had a tap on the juicy vein that is the burg grapevine.

Grandma.

I showered and got dressed. I took the turbo again and went to the market for some lunch meat. I picked up my mother's usual order and saw working checkout was Theresa Bryce. She and I went to school together. She was a gossip monger then, and people don't really change in the burg. I got one look at her over-processed hair and long red duck feet nails, and knew I hit the jack pot. Burgers always looked the part. She saw me and waved me over to do the big, I haven't seen you in forever and look how good you look. I was still a big topic in the burg so I knew if I could get her talking she would spill something, if it was useful and true is another story. She rang me up without anything good so I got a little worried but then she delivered.

"So the phones have been ringin of the hook since ya were at the station. People been sayin you were picked up for whorin. That ain't true is it?" Damn she got down to it fast

"No, I had a bad night and needed to tell Joe some stuff." Her eyes glinted with glee.

"So you and Morelli getting back together huh?" I shook my head.

"Nah we're just staying friends." She was getting bored, shit I had to give her something. She beat me to it.

"Have you heard about Rangeman?" I made my fake "What" face.

"No, what's the deal?" She sniffed looking all high and mighty, I itched to smack the crown off her head.

"Apparently Mr. Jensen tripped his alarm on his store and nobody called or nuthin. Just left him high and dry." Well that's anticlimactic. There's nobody at the office to respond.

"Do you know what time he tripped the alarm?" She looked at me weird.

"Why, what's it to you?" Shit shit shitty shit shit. I had to make up something.

"Um Well Rangers not returning any of my calls." She nodded her head with fake sympathy.

"About five in the evenin Thursday is what I heard." Its Saturday now so it wasn't a good sign. I hung my head I fake sadness. We did the dramatic goodbyes and made fake promises to go out for drinks. I got in the car and pushed the speed limit on my way to my mother's house. I saw grandma waiting for me at the porch. I got out and she hugged me.

"I don't know what happened but the phones been ringing for ten minutes."

"I'll tell you and ma later. I got her lunch meat order." I walking in my parent's kitchen to see her slamming the phone down. She gave me a burg death glare when he saw m.

"Stephanie what's this about you being pregnant with Ranger's love child and how he's not gonna support you two?" I sighed. Damn Theresa worked fast. I sat down and grabbed a piece of ham. My mother smacked it out of my hand. I looked up to see my mom looking wistfully at the liqueur cabinet. Jeez ma it's nine in the morning.

"I'm not pregnant and yes I'm sure." I needed to really spell it out for my mom sometimes. "Come on sit down cause you need to hear this." They both made their ways to the small kitchen table. I had their attention. "I need both of you to help me without giving to much information away, this could be life or death so please take me seriously."

"Of course honey." My grandma nodded in agreement.

"I need you two to get all the information the burg has on Rangeman. I need the stuff from a few days ago. Go to the hair parlor, the bridge club, I don't care. I already know about Mr. Jenson, but I need everything else." To say they were shocked was and understatement.

"Of course we'll do your recon Stephanie! Do I need to go undercover?" My grandma was all for this.

"No, grandma, but text me if you hear something or see a Rangeman." They were confused but this was all I was comfortable telling them. I gave hugs and left with a bowl of soup and a tub of mac and cheese. I headed back to Tank's.

Tank and Lester were camped out on the couch drinking beers. It was now 11 in the morning.

"That bad huh?" They both nodded. "Well I have grandma and my mother picking up what they can. I heard from a burger that Mr. Jenson tripped his alarm at five on Thursday."

"At least we are getting a better time line." Lester looked grim.

"Ok what's going on? Why the hell are you guy's drinking beers in the morning like slutty blondes on a cruise?" They cracked small smiles at my joke.

"Well little girl, our stark informants have nothing, this is turning into a bigger clusterfuck by the day. If we don't get a bead on where everyone is soon." Tank's voice trailed off. Lester jumped up.

"Let's just go to New York and get Tanner to tell us where they all are. WE know it's him! Let's nail his ass."

"I don't see how that's going to do anything. Use your head you dick. Intimidating Tanner does nothing. If he's even the guy, and that's a big if, he holds more cards then us." Tank was exasperated.

"Well I don't see you using you head and coming up with anything!" A vein in Lester's head started to throb.

Tank stood up. "At least I'm acting like an adult."

"You are acting like a bastard." And then they started to roll around on the floor, punching and kicking. When they broke the coffee table I had enough. So I flipped the lid on the jug of soup and dumped it on them. They froze and looked up. They were covered in minestrone.

"I have an idea. How about we look at this productively instead of fighting like toddlers. This is not the fourth grade gentlemen. You are going to change and then clean up this soup." I acted confident but in the inside I was terrified. I spun around on my heel and marched away. Once I got to the kitchen I sank to the floor and hung my head. They were going to put me in a refrigerator box and ship me to the desert. When I heard laughter I got up to see them minestrone free and in a lighter mood.

"Sorry about that beautiful."

"Yeah little girl, you got one hell of a soup toss going for ya." I was instantly relived. I was doing an internal happy dance. _I'm not going to the desert yeah! I'm not going to the desert yeah! I'm not going to th-. _ I was interrupted by their loud guffaws.

"Shit! Out loud again?" Lester nodded with tears in his eyes. "Well, I think Lester had something there. What kind of guy is Tanner?" Both of them arched an eyebrow. Someday I'm going to master that.

"He's a single guy with power." They looked at me expectantly. Oh so he's a man whore. Perfect.

"And is there anything of his that could give us a clue as to where Rangeman is?" Tank rubbed his jaw.

"Well if you could get your hands on a certain key card. It's how they get in the building. Then his computer would hopefully tell us something." Lester narrowed his eyes on me. I tried to look innocent and failed.

"This is all hypothetical right beautiful? You aren't thinking of doing some kind of distraction shit right?" I went straight into rhino mode.

"Why the hell not? I'm capable and you two would be right there!"

"That's where you're wrong little girl, Tanner and his bodyguards know us. You'd be alone." Tank looked grim. I can't say that the idea of being alone excited me but we needed to do something.

"What about another girl with me? The one you told me about! Does Tanner know her?" Then Lester spoke with an eerie calm voice.

"You told her about Katrina."

"Hey man I never thought she would think up this plan. I didn't mean to step over any boundaries." Lester nodded.

"Its fine," Then he addressed me. "Beautiful I can't see her again. I won't be able to bear it." His voice cracked and he turned and stormed out. I tried to run after him but Tank stopped me. He shook his head no.

So we made the plans without Lester. We were staying at a best western hotel and renting two average looking cars in other names. Tanner was into dominance so I was going to let him pick me up, which made me nervous. I was going to have a recording device and at least three transmitters on me. I thought that was overkill but Tank wouldn't budge.

"I think I can handle having one transmitter." He snorted.

"Absolutely not. There is one rule at Rangeman that I'm even scared to break. Loose Stephanie. I will not be in charge of the fuck up where you get taken by Tanner." I can't say that I wasn't flattered, but I still felt disgruntled. Tank suggested that I change my appearance in case that Tanner knew what I looked like. I wasn't down for coloring my hair so I had another idea. I called Lula.

"Hey Steph. You haven't been down at the office lately. I'm missing your ass."

"I miss you and Connie too. Look I need a favor."

A half hour later we were outside Miss Bee's wig emporium.

"This is it. The best lace front wigs in Trenton." The building was dilapidated and had the craziest wigs I've ever seen in the window. Lula bustled her way in and introduced me do an older woman with a lilac purple afro. Bee was very kind and helped us pick out a straight blonde wig. It wasn't too barbie-ish and had nice layers. Bee hooked me up with wig caps and some kind of glue to keep it on my head. Lula and I left to go to the nail salon for paws and claws. And I had an appointment for a spray tan. We went to Quakerbridge for some short dresses and matching Fuck me pumps.

When I got back to Tank's the guys were ready to leave and barely recognized me with the tan and outrageous nails. We packed up and got to Tanner's New York office in record time. I had my own room and the guys left to go see where Tanner was headed tonight. It seemed this day was never ending.

I felt all this pressure on myself. I was so scared for the other guys. I didn't care about myself, I need the others to be safe. They were more important at this moment. I really wanted to trip Tanner up, he wouldn't know what him. Just like I didn't know what happened when I was bombarded with another flashback. It was clearer than the others. I saw blonde woman dancing on a stage. I didn't see her face because she had a white feather fan. She was wearing some sort of sparkly corset, but didn't strike me as a stripper. I heard a gunshot and she pivoted and had a gun and returned fire. She locked eyes with me and yelled "Run! Save him!" I saw haunted blue-gray eyes turn cold when blood spurted out of her shoulder.

I shook my head. Questions were swarming around my head. Who was she? Is she ok? What the hell happened? The guns? And who was I saving? Ranger never needed saving, funny. Seeing as how that's what I'm trying to do. I stood up and started to pace. My phone started to ring in my hand and I stilled when I saw the caller id.

Ranger.

Ranger was calling me.

I hit answer and held it up. "R-Ranger?"

I heard a voice that sounded like the finest music to me. "Yeah Babe. I need you to leave the country. Leave and don't come back." He let out a wheezing cough. It sounded like he was coughing up blood.

"No." I said this calmer than I felt. On the inside I was in a corner sobbing and wishing for someone to help me. But nobody was coming. I was the hero here. I'm goddamn Wonder fucking Woman.

"Stephanie its life or death." I heard a metallic scraping and it occurred to me that I was on speaker phone.

"Yeah tell me something I don't know. Listen up because I'm only going to say this one time. You don't know who the hell you are messing with. I will hunt you down like an animal." I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and then more coughing.

Before the call was cut short I heard a faint, "Proud of you babe."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I OWN NOTHING YOU KNOW. JE OWNS EVERYTHING.

I sat on the bed and stared at my phone until it buzzed in my hand gain. This time Tank's caller id showed up on the screen. I declined the call. I'd get hell for it later, but right now it didn't matter. He called me. Told me to leave. But he didn't mean too. Right? Yes, he was proud of me and he was alive. I looked up and saw my reflection in a decorative mirror on the wall. My eyes were puffy and my hair was frizzy. I looked weak. I shut my eyes tightly and remembered the blue-gray eyes of the stranger. Wait, could that be Lester's Katrina? I got up and bolted out of the room. I ran to the guy's room, I shoved the key card in there a thousand frickin times until it showed the green light. I ripped the door open and looked around for Les's phone. He said he was going to charge it in the room. Sure enough it was charging by an end table. It had a word passcode. Damn. I entered six possible guesses, gun, boobs, Rangemen, porn, sex, and pussy. Hey, the all sounded like possible Lester passcodes. I waited for a minute and entered _Katrina_. The phone unlocked. Jack pot. I went to his pictures and scrolled for a few minutes then I saw a picture of Lester, Tank, Ranger and Bobby and the blue-grey eyed blonde girl from my flashback. They were all smiling and had their arms around each other. It was hard to tell that they were all mercenaries. She was pretty and there was a few picture before that were you could tell that they didn't know they were being captured. One was Tank and Ranger talking and Lester and Katrina making out with Bobby looking disgusted. Another was Tank giving her a piggyback ride. They all were smiling and looked younger. I felt intrusive for seeing these private moments. I locked the phone and turned around to come face to face with Lester and Tank. Oh shit.

"Have fun?" Lester snatched the phone from my hands and shoved it in his pocket.

"For or information, I was checking up on something. I had another flashback and Katrina was there. She-" I was cut off by a pissed of Lester

"I don't care. Go back to your room and get ready to go clubbing." He grabbed my shoulders and steered me towards the door. I dug my heels and spun around.

"No. I have news. Katrina was shot in a club and I was there and she told me to run and to go save him. So you Lester Santos can shut your mouth. Also, I got a call from Ranger and he told me to leave the country and not come back. I think he was forced, because when I said no, his was hit and said proud of you babe just like he always does so I think I've had a pretty productive hour right here!" To say that Lester and Tank were shocked was an understatement. Both of them just opened and shut there mouths like fish for a few minutes. So while they were acting like fish, l stormed out to get ready.

I put the wig on and secured it with the glue. I did a heavy smoky eye and loud orange lips. I put on a white lace dress that really contrasted to my tan. It had lace panels and was long enough to barely cover my ass. I put on the bracelet with the transmitter in it, and the necklace with had the camera and transmitter. Tank also gave me a Transmitter to put somewhere on my body. It was the size of a Dime and it was adhesive so I stuck it on the inside of my thigh. I gave myself some spritzes of dolce vita and was ready to rock and roll.

There was a knock at the door and I opened it to see Tank, and there was something about the look on his face that told me Lester was going to Katrina.

"She still means that much to him huh? I'm not complaining it's-."

"Steph, she was his drug of choice for a long time. He would seem high if he was with her for too long." He laughed to himself. "Her name was on his mouth like alcohol. Ranger and you remind me of them."

"We aren't in love Tank. "

"Bullshit."

"Ok maybe, I love him, and he might have feelings for me, but that's not IN love. It's mutual attraction." Tank rolled his eyes. Well . I can play this game too. "What about you and Lula?" Tank's answer floored me.

"I did love Lula, and she loved me. But I don't think she could ever come to grasps with what I did for a living. She is such a kind soul, she puts up this hard exterior, but that's not her. The clothes, the hair, even the antics aren't Lula. The wedding freaked me out. I should've held my ground. I'm thinking about her constantly. I think it's time for us to grow up" I threw my arms around his big frame.

"Oh promise that you'll call her when everyone is safe!"

"I promise little girl. For tonight I just want you to watch Tanner. Don't interact with him unless you have too. Les should be back with Kat tomorrow evening."

"Back with Kat?"

"Yeah, turns out when he's not being a baby he sees the benefits of having her here" I nodded. I was kind of intimidated by her. She went undercover for years, while I'm just pretending. But I needed to pretend my ass off.

When we got to the club, tank stayed in the minivan while I went in alone. He said to order a water with an olive. He also wanted me to get in a position where I could see the entire club. I was to lay low and just blend in tonight. He was going to text me when he saw Tanner.

When I got into the club I was pleasantly surprised that the club was small but posh. I ordered my drink from a guy named Joquen. He gave me exactly what I wanted and I managed to snag a booth in the perfect position. The room was in black and white with random bright accents. There was a sick DJ setup and a lighted dance floor. My phone buzzed and I read the text from Tank.

_Red shit khaki pants with a black watch. _

I scanned the dance floor to see him dancing with two girls. He wasn't totally attractive, he had a roman nose with thick eyebrows and killer cheek bones. He was taller than I expected, but the height wasn't what surprised me.

It was the guy behind him. He had a flaming skull tattoo on his forehead.

It was Cal the Merry Men. I got up slowly and made my way to the bar. Then I saw Hal ordering a drink with Joquen. I turned around and scanned the room, I saw Ram, Hector and Zip sitting at a table with three other men I'd never seen, and by the bulge in one of the stranger's jacket they were packing heat. Then I saw someone that made my head throb. Lester. He had two black eyes and a split lip and didn't look happy. In fact none of them did. I suddenly got very scared for Tank. I went to the bathroom and looked for a fire exit. Yes! One right there. I pushed it open to see three big guys approaching the minivan. I had to act now. I saw a piece of pipe by the dumpster so I grabbed it and took off my heels and went into a run.

I was happy that Tank did his research and parked in a part of the lot where there was no security cameras. I ran up to the first one and got him square in the head. He dropped like a bag of flour. The other two didn't notice a thing. So I did the same thing the second one, he too dropped. The first one turned around.

"Crazy bitch!" He charged and I let the top of my pole touch the ground. He grabbed my shoulders and all I had to do was yank the pole up. Right into the jewels. What a dumbass. Tank got out of the car and came to survey the damage. The last one was still squirming so I knocked him right across the face. And I did it again and again. I was sobbing. Tank pulled the pipe away.

"It's done Steph. Stephanie stop. Steph!" I sank to the ground. Why? What's going on here? These guys are my friends aren't they? Why are the out drinking with Tanner? I felt like I was drowning and the only one who can pull me up is gone. I was briefly aware that Tank picked me up and carried me to the van. I squeezed my eyes shut. I just want to go home to denial land.

I woke up in my hotel room with Tank in a chair by my bed. I was still in my clothes and felt like I was run through a meat grinder. I took of the necklace and bracelet and handed them to Tank. His eyebrows hit his hairline when I gave him the third transmitter. Still he said nothing. Good, I wasn't in the mood to say anything to anyone ever again. I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My makeup was still caked on and there was only minimal smudging. Isn't that just a bitch? Worse night ever and my makeup is till good. I took of the wig with only minimal tearing. I put the shower on the hottest setting it could go. I wanted to scorch the memories away. I was in there for a good half hour, scrubbing and sobbing. It was like the floodgates opened under the hot spray. I couldn't do this. This was stuff for professionals with guns and badges and bags of money. Not me, a mediocre bond enforcement agent. This was the stuff for Ranger.

Ranger. He couldn't save me. I have to save me. I have to save everyone at Rangeman. I ripped the curtain off and stepped out. I'm Wonder Woman. I can do this. I wrapped a towel around my hair and put on jeans and a tube top. I layered on makeup, with a fake natural eye and light pink lips. I put my curls in the wig cap and secured it. I placed the wig on to see that it looked too perfect so I use the glue to secure it to my hair line and threw the blonde locks in a messy bun. Just as I was securing them with a hair tie, I had another flashback.

_I was looking at Ranger, we were outside the bond's office._

_"__Can you do a distraction tonight? It's in New York and we're leaving in two hours."_

_"__That's all the notice I get?" He gave me his wolf grin and gave me a bone melting kiss._

Then I was at the club with the stage in the previous vision.

_"__Madame Hannah's Burlesque Club. Better view than the skyline." I was reading off the lighted sign._

_"__Yeah babe, so we're after a guy named Tanner." _

I was sprawled out on the tile floor of the hotel bathroom when my vision started to clear. So Ranger was going after Tanner? Why wouldn't he leave good enough alone? I'm sure there was a reason, but I just wasn't seeing it.

I fixed my hair and went back in the room. I was surprised to see all both mine and Tank's bags by the door.

"Hey little girl, I just saw our friends from last night in the lobby. We need to move. I already called ahead to get one room with two beds at another hotel. I paid for a week's stay in Lester's room. We'll check back on Wednesday and see if it's been trashed." He pushed a stun gun into my hand and put a finger to his lips. He got the two bags. We walked out. My heart was rocketing in my chest. Tank walked in front of me and pushed the button on the elevator. When the door dinged, our three friends from last night were looking at us. I felt fear clench my insides. "Let's take the stairs Ali. This elevator is already full." Tank said this with an even tone. At first I didn't know he was talking to me. When the hell did my name become Ali?

"Yes. Let's." I turned on my heel and walked down the hall to the stairs. I heard Tank following me. Once I opened the door and heard it shut behind him. We broke into a dead run. It was a good thing we were only on the fourth floor. I was racing, one step after the other. Getting closer and closer to the lobby door. I'm almost there, we are almost safe. For being a big guy, Tank really could move. Once I pushed the door and entered the lobby, I was happy to notice our attackers weren't there. Once we were in the parking lot we took the second car, a red sedan. I got in the driver's side with minimal grousing from Tank. He had this suitcase looking thing in his hands. He flipped it open and it looked like a high tech computer.

"I want to see if they are tossing the room."

"Damn that's some spy shit right there."

"The camera is on top of the door. It's real small so I don't think they'll notice." Sure enough the three guys in the room, but they were just looking. No tossing of any kind. It was a bit disappointing.

"Tank, why don't you just kick their asses? You can right?" Tank gave me a look that clearly said he was not amused.

"Trying to keep a low profile. I don't need them to see me. Since they didn't follow us, I doubt they really know who I am. I want a tracker on at least one of them. Are you up to the task?"

"Sure. But I don't really see these guys just letting me feel them up in the hallway." From the video we heard a discussion.

"This is a bust. Didja see the trick outside the elevator? She'd be a good time." I noticed that he was the guy I hit first. Like I'd ever look at this tool. The other two grunted in response.

"This place has a good bar, let's bail and see if there's any fun to be had." Bingo. I had them. I got out and got my bag. I think a nice pair of Fmp's could go a long way here.

I sashayed my way into the hotel bar. The three amigos were the only guys here. Oh so much fun. I Leaned over the bar and pushed my butt out so they had a good view.

"I'll have a cosmo." The bartender nodded and fixed my drink. He slid it to me and winked. Ew. He was pushing 50 and going bald. No thank you. I heard one of the guys get out of the booth and came to my left.

"Here doll, Lemme get that for ya." He had a definite Bronx accent.

"No thanks. I'm just looking for a good time, not a free drink." He raised his eyebrows. He was youngish and had sandy blond hair and green eyes. I let my eyes wander down and saw he was packing.

"Really? Well, I think I can help." I smiled coyly. He took my hand and led me up to the maintenance room. How classy. Once he opened the door, he shoved me inside and came in. Uh oh. Time to put on the false bravado

"Listen Buddy, I don't know who you think you are but let me tell you. You are not dealing with some little tart you can-." He interrupted.

"Look lady I'm with the FBI. Agent Sam Williams. He grabbed my necklace and addressed it only now. "Look me up Pierre, I work for Jacobson." I slapped his hand off the necklace.

"Off! Do you have identification Mr. Agent Sam Williams?" He rolled his eyes and handed me his badge. I looked at it and then threw it at him. "What the hell! You cannot jus-." I was interrupted by my cell phone. "What Tank?"

"I called Jacobson He's a good friend. Sam's legit. Put me one speaker." I complied. "Well I checked you out Williams. You've got quite the resume." Sam rolled his eyes. "I guess we need to work together instead of against each other. The little tart that you're with is Stephanie plum, aka the girl that whopped yo ass with a pipe last night." Sam whipped his eyes to me, I could only shrug. He reminded me of Morelli.

"Yeah working together makes more sense than attacking me with a pipe. I'm the only agent in there. You should be relieved to know that everyone is alive. Ranger Manoso is being kept at an offsite location. I'll work on the exacts. He's alive for now. Tanner is using him to keep the others in line. One word from him and Ranger's dead. I believe that it's vice versa. They think Tanner's not joking because he's been saying you're dead Pierre."

"Tank. Call me Tank. I don't know why he thinks that. I woke up handcuffed in Steph's apartment."

"Well they thought Lester was dead until we brought him to the mansion."

"The dumbass is using his own mansion?" Suddenly there was a banging on the door. Shit.

"C'mon Jake. Boss says move." Me and Sam locked eyes. I hung up on Tank and looked around. I found my lipstick in my pocket and applied more. Sam was wearing a button up so I grabbed his collar and pulled. The buttons Flew in all directions. Sam took my phone and put in his number as I let my hair down. I reached down and unbuttoned is fly. He didn't even react. Jerk. He handed the phone back and ran his hands through his hair a bunch of times. I grabbed his chin and firmly pressed my lips to his. Once I was satisfied he had enough lipstick on, I turned and walked out the door. I can be a jerk too.

I left the bar, and made my way to the car. Tank was now in the driver's side and scowling.

"You hung up."

"You are seriously mad about that?" Tank grumbled something about needing some testosterone. We drove on a city backstreet, and slowed down. "Tank what's going on?" He pulled up and eased back into onto a street. Weird it was empty. Must be construction

"We had a tail, but I think it-." Suddenly the car was slammed from the driver's side. Glass shattered and was raining down. Everything was in fast forward. My skin felt wet. Oh God why isn't Tank moving? Tank was slumped over the wheel. I reached over a pushed his shoulder. His head turned to me. He mouthed. "Run." I saw his door ripped open and two guys had a syringe, they shoved it into his neck. I felt my door opened and strong arms circled me. No. I wasn't leaving him. He's my only friend. I can't let them take him.

"Tank!" No!" I was sobbing as the stranger pulled me away. I started to kick my legs and try to hurt my attacker. I can't leave him. No no no. Please don't take him. Me. Take me instead. I was thrown down by a dumpster. I tried to crawl away but they grabbed my shoulders. "Let me go! I have to save him! All of them! They need me." Tears blurred my vision. I couldn't see their face, but I really don't kow if I wanted to see the person who was going to murder me. They were, weren't they?

"Stephanie! I had to! Darling I'm so sorry. I can help you." The voice was familiar. I blinked my eyes and gasped. What was going on?

A/N Mwhahahaha I wanted this chapter to be full of action. Who do you think the stranger is? Leave a review. Next chapter is where Steph is going to go all apeshit. Thanks for all the support, reviews really help. Just tell me your thoughts.

Love iwnt2skimoore.


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